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Department of Ecology News Release - Nov. 13, 2000
00-215
SPOKANE - In 1999 the state legislature provided more money for enforcing water-use laws in Washington state, and that investment is paying off as the Department of Ecology takes action against four more cases of illegal water use.
The department has issued four penalties this week to people caught using water for irrigation without proper authorization. Three of the penalties are to people who were fined previously but continued to use the water.
Jack and Jason Simmons of Valley, in Stevens County, were fined $45,000 for continuing to irrigate illegally. Jack Simmons was fined twice before, in the fall of 1999 and in June 2000.
Two penalties were issued this week to the Marlin Hutterian Brethren in Grant County: $89,300 for irrigating 375 acres of unauthorized land and failing to install flow meters required by a previous cease-and-desist order, and $33,600 for continuing to irrigate 125 acres of unauthorized land and for not having a properly functioning flow meter.
The Stahl Hutterian Brethren, also from Adams County, were fined $31,500 for using water on unauthorized property and for failing to install required flow meters. The Stahl Hutterians were originally fined $27,000 last July for using water without a water right.
"Having enough water to meet the needs of residents, industries and agriculture into the future is going to be a huge challenge in Washington," said Ecology Director, Tom Fitzsimmons. "It was fortunate that the legislature saw so clearly that it didn't make sense to allow illegal water use to continue unchecked."
The Adams County violations occurred in the so-called "Odessa sub-area"-a region in Central Washington with severe water availability problems.
The water table in the Odessa sub-area has been steadily declining over the last 20 years, prompting Ecology to concentrate water management and enforcement efforts in the area. In addition, water right applications, transfers and changes are now being processed in the Odessa sub-area.
"If water is used without authorization, it means the legally operating water users are short-changed," said George Schlender of Ecology's Spokane office. "We must protect the rights of senior water-right holders and attempt to maintain the aquifer at a safe, sustainable level."
The ground water in the Odessa sub-area is managed under a regulation that has been in place since the early 1970s to ensure the water table does not fall more than 300 feet below the level it was at in the spring of 1967. The regulation provides for more oversight in the area to protect senior water rights from unauthorized groundwater withdrawals.
"Ground water is declining so rapidly in some parts of the Odessa sub-area that it could simply be too expensive for future farmers to drill deep enough for irrigation," Schlender said.
Schlender added that one common problem in the Odessa sub-area is the unauthorized expansion of irrigated acreage. "It's not uncommon for people to request a seasonal change in their water rights to move their water from one place to another to accommodate another crop. But it's not okay to go ahead and do it without authorization," he said.
Contact: Jani Gilbert, Public Information Manager, 509-456-4464; pager, 509-622-1289
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
